6.7

Table Of Contents
Getting Started with Resource
Management 1
To understand resource management, you must be aware of its components, its goals, and how best to
implement it in a cluster setting.
Resource allocation settings for a virtual machine (shares, reservation, and limit) are discussed, including
how to set them and how to view them. Also, admission control, the process whereby resource allocation
settings are validated against existing resources is explained.
Resource management is the allocation of resources from resource providers to resource consumers.
The need for resource management arises from the overcommitment of resources—that is, more demand
than capacity and from the fact that demand and capacity vary over time. Resource management allows
you to dynamically reallocate resources, so that you can more efficiently use available capacity.
Note In this chapter, "Memory" refers to physical RAM.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
Resource Types
n
Resource Providers
n
Resource Consumers
n
Goals of Resource Management
Resource Types
Resources include CPU, memory, power, storage, and network resources.
Note ESXi manages network bandwidth and disk resources on a per-host basis, using network traffic
shaping and a proportional share mechanism, respectively.
Resource Providers
Hosts and clusters, including datastore clusters, are providers of physical resources.
For hosts, available resources are the host’s hardware specification, minus the resources used by the
virtualization software.
VMware, Inc.
9